The company has sold operating systems for other companies' computers for more than 30 years. Sticking to the software and letting other people deal with the hardware side is what made Microsoft the multinational behemoth that dominated the computing landscape through the 1990s and much of the 2000s. MS-DOS; 16-bit Windows 1, 2, and 3; the hybrid Windows 95 family; and the 32-bit (and, later, 64-bit) Windows NT family that is still with us to this day: all were sold primarily to computer OEMs for preinstallation on new machines.

With Surface, Microsoft is diving headlong into a new business model. Let's be blunt here: Redmond is going the Cupertino route. Microsoft is not merely writing the software. It's designing hardware to go with that software, and contracting manufacturers in East Asia to turn its designs into millions of units of real, shipping hardware, that Microsoft will be selling directly to customers.

Specs at a glance: Microsoft Surface with Windows RT

Screen

1366×768 10.6" (147 ppi), 5-point capacitive touchscreen

OS

Windows RT

CPU

1.3GHz NVIDIA Tegra 3 T30

RAM

2GB DDR3L (non-upgradeable)

GPU

NVIDIA Tegra 3

HDD

32GB or 64GB solid-state drive (of which about 20 or 52 GB are usable)

Networking

802.11a/b/g/n with 2x2 MIMO antennas, Bluetooth 4.0

Ports

Micro HDMI, headphones, microSDXC, USB 2.0, Cover port

Size

10.81×6.77×0.37" (274×172×9.3 mm)

Weight

1.5lb (676g)

Battery

31.5Wh

Warranty

1 year

Starting price

$499

Price as reviewed

$699

Sensor

Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Magnetometer

Other perks

24W charger

Why the change of heart? The president of Windows and Windows Live Division, Steven Sinofsky, says that Microsoft has its own point of view when it comes to tablets. He pointed at Google, Amazon, and Apple, saying that each of them have their own tablet take. Google's world is centered on search and collecting data; Amazon's tablets are intended to drive purchases from Amazon's store; Apple's is designed to capitalize on the iPhone's familiarity.

Microsoft's take is the same as it has always been: the tablet is a sort of PC, with all the flexibility, extensibility, and variety that that entails. This mindset is fundamental to understanding why Windows 8 is the way it is. It's also why Microsoft continues to sell its operating system to OEMs; it knows that there's too much variety in the market for one company to meet every need.

But Microsoft has a competing pressure. It wants to show off its software in the best light possible, and controlling the whole experience—software, hardware, and even retail—is how it plans to achieve that.

Quite how Microsoft will sit in the broader tablet market isn't yet entirely clear. The company is keeping very quiet about production volumes and expected sales figures. There are a few predictions and rumors floating around, putting expectations in the region of low millions. That's a smaller scale than, for example, Amazon's Kindle Fire or Google's Nexus 7, but still substantial for a first product.

If nothing else, the limited distribution—Surface will initially be available in just eight markets—will serve to limit Surface's ability to disrupt the OEMs, making the computer more of a Nexus-like benchmark than a complete transformation of Microsoft's business model. But we can expect that to change with time. Studio B, the building in Redmond that houses the Surface team, is taking hardware seriously, and Microsoft wants to create a sustainable, profitable hardware business to position itself as a "devices-and-services" company.

Surface is the first product to reflect this devices-and-services ambition and I've been test driving one for about a week. Does Microsoft have what it takes to be a player in the hardware market? Can it take on not just the OEMs, but the Apple juggernaut?

It's a tablet

With the way Sinofsky emphasized Microsoft's desire to put its own stamp on the tablet market and ensure that its hardware experience was the best possible, one might have expected something a little more exotic than a black widescreen slab. A black widescreen slab is what we have.

I think it's a good looking slab. The shape is squarer and more angular than many competing products, which I enjoy. It's slim, at 0.37 inches (9.4mm), and light, at 1.5lb (681g). Its front face is dominated by the 10.6-inch, 16:9, 1366×768, Gorilla Glass 2-covered IPS screen. Above the screen are a 720p camera and a little light that illuminates to show that the camera is in use. Below that sits a Windows logo that serves as a Start button.

All hardware designed for Windows 8 will sport a Start button positioned centrally below the long edge of the screen (except for hybrid laptops, which are given more leeway in their positioning) and it is an irritating design flaw that Microsoft has mandated. Sinofsky has said that one of Surface's immutable design constraints was that it was intended for two-handed operation, held in landscape mode. Windows 8 and RT similarly are built for this mode with their convenient thumb keyboard. Problem is, when held this way the Start button is unreachable.

The front of the machine is covered edge-to-edge in Gorilla Glass. All other sides are metal.

Surface is made from injection molded magnesium alloy, the same technique used for building the internal structures of SLR cameras. The results are stiff and robust (and enjoyably flammable) but also lightweight. How stiff? Well, Microsoft has turned one Surface tablet into possibly the world's nerdiest skateboard by attaching four wheels.

The black (or "Dark Titanium," as Microsoft calls it) finish is a result of Microsoft's VaporMg (pronounced "Vapor Mag") vapor deposition technique. The result is hard to scratch, easy to grip, and comfortable to hold. It's also a veritable fingerprint magnet. Keeping your Surface looking smart will require kid gloves.

The edges of the machine all have a 22° angle, which has the effect of making the rest of the machine "disappear" when you're looking at the front. It also feels good in the hand. The Surface is comfortable to hold, feeling well-balanced.

Ports on the right side. From top to bottom: speaker, video, USB, power.

Buttons and ports

Around the edges of the machine are various buttons and connectors. From top to bottom on the right, we have a speaker, mini-HDMI, full-size USB 2.0, and the magnetic power connector. I've taken an instant dislike to the power connector. The magnets are so strong that the Surface aggressively grabs the connector, snatching it away from my grasp. It doesn't, however, seat the connector properly within its receptacle, so the system can't actually charge. I have to jiggle the thing and reseat it every time.

Enlarge/ It's not USB charging, but as a result, it fills the battery in less than two hours.

At the other end of the power lead is a 24W wall wart. There's no option here for USB charging. Sinofsky described this as one of the many trade-offs that have to be made when designing hardware. USB charging is useful, because it means that you can carry around fewer chargers. However, it's also power constrained; although the USB working group is producing a high power (100W) standard, current USB 2.0 is limited to 2.5W and USB 3.0 to 9.0W. With Surface's 31.5Wh battery, that would produce a best-case charging time of 3.5 hours over USB 3.0 (assuming the machine has its screen off and is idle, so all the energy slurped in over the port can be stored in the battery), and more than 12 hours over USB 2.0. With the 24W charger, a full charge can be had in around 80 minutes.

The positioning of the power connector is also aggravating. If you're holding the Surface in the two-hand landscape style—the style that was a design constraint—your right hand goes where the power connector attaches. The connector gets in the way. It's not as bad as on some other machines I've used, however. Samsung's Series 7 Slate puts its power connector in the same place, but unlike the flat connector of Surface, it's a conventional circular jack that juts out perpendicular to the side of the machine, rather than lying alongside it. Nonetheless, the Surface's placement seems to be at odds with the intended design and usage of the machine.

324 Reader Comments

The accounts on these devices are tied to your cloud accounts. No one wants multi-user in a family, because they don't want to buy two copies of every game and app that they share. If your device is in a family, monitoring their usage is important, anyway, so you don't need multiple accounts.

Though, yes, a limited guest account on these devices would be nice, like the chromebook, which is completely locked to the cloud and so is a necessity. But just giving your kids a browser doesn't make much sense.

Sounds like a real killer bit of hardware. Love the look.

And hey, great job Peter, you're having a big week here and nailing it imo.

This leads into my next question, which is does the multiuser stuff work like the Xbox? Will an app work on another account on the same machine because one of the accounts on the machine bought it. I've only seen speculation, not actual testing.

And if you use multiple accounts, you can turn on Family Safety to monitor the other accounts. Much better that way because if you care about monitoring, you'll actually get reports.

The accounts on these devices are tied to your cloud accounts. No one wants multi-user in a family, because they don't want to buy two copies of every game and app that they share. If your device is in a family, monitoring their usage is important, anyway, so you don't need multiple accounts.

That's a failure of the implementation, not a failure of the model itself. Again, it's not likely to change because it generates more revenue, but there is no inherent reasons why the information about what you purchased and what you consider private data or even preferences has to be tied together. As an example, see how modern luxury cars can remember their user's preferences (seat position, radio channels, etc.) without requiring you to buy a new car for each user.

(...) fold it right back behind the machine as easily as you do a book cover.

Why would you do that to a book, you monster! Seriously, though, don't do that to books /OT

Great review, though. Seems like MS has a schizophrenic relationship to magnets.. Personally, I don't think the resolution is that much of an issue. I'm using an iPad 2, which has similar resolution, and while I clearly see the difference from the retina version, it doesn't really hold me back in any way.

Really a well done article Peter. I have been looking at the Surface with some curiosity, but nothing more, and now I'm tempted to pop in to the Microsoft store next door and fiddle around with one. I don't think this is exactly what I'm looking for, but a rumors about a few tweaks here and there and I may back off my iPad preorder plans. At the very least, I'm questioning myself.

Jumping in to the multi-user debate, I don't think get why there would be any reason not to want it. Looking at it from a parental perspective (5 and 2), my phone serves as a short distraction when a trip is taking a little longer than expected. Rather than having a page of applications for the kids and hoping they don't send an email or call someone, it would be nice to have an account that would just display the applications I want to display. With a tablet, as others mention, it makes even more sense. As something that would just get picked up as needed by anybody, each person can enjoy direct access to their email, bookmarks, screen layout and other settings. Why wouldn't you want that. Granted there would be some notification kinks to work out, but still....

MS should have bit the bullet and included the touch cover with every Surface. Great review BTW.

Apple didn't bite the bullet and include the smart cover with every iPad 3. Just sayin'.

Well, the smart cover doesn't really provide all that huge benefit. Yes, it's a cover, and a pretty nifty one at that. But it doesn't change the functionality of the device at all and it's not something that Apple spends all that much talking about. On the Surface (no pun intended) MS has made the touch cover a big selling-point of the device, and a differentiating feature when compared to other tablets.

As to the device... It seems like a really nifty device, and I like the idea of the touch cover. The big downside right now is the ecosystem, but the device as a singular device seems to be pretty cool.

The accounts on these devices are tied to your cloud accounts. No one wants multi-user in a family, because they don't want to buy two copies of every game and app that they share.

Have you personally tested this? I read a statement from Microsoft on another website that Windows Store apps installed on a device would be available to all users of that device (with different user data.)

The accounts on these devices are tied to your cloud accounts. No one wants multi-user in a family, because they don't want to buy two copies of every game and app that they share. If your device is in a family, monitoring their usage is important, anyway, so you don't need multiple accounts.

Though, yes, a limited guest account on these devices would be nice, like the chromebook, which is completely locked to the cloud and so is a necessity. But just giving your kids a browser doesn't make much sense.

Sounds like a real killer bit of hardware. Love the look.

And hey, great job Peter, you're having a big week here and nailing it imo.

We have two iPads in our family, one for me and one for my wife. They are both synced to my iTunes in my login on our mac because we didn't want to have to buy the same apps again, particularly those for our toddler. However, since iCloud and iOS 5, it is possible to have my wife's iPad linked to my iTunes but with her iCloud details. This means that she gets her email, iMessage, calendar and contacts but we have just the one copy of apps and contact. Attaching two iCloud accounts and a guest mode would be a good idea, IMHO, one that locked out a series of apps I could list in settings but still allow access to the rest of the device.

With Surface, Microsoft is diving headlong into a new business model. Let's be blunt here: Redmond is going the Cupertino route. Microsoft is not merely writing the software. It's designing hardware to go with that software, and contracting manufacturers in the Far East to turn its designs into millions of units of real, shipping hardware, that Microsoft will be selling directly to customers.

What about the XBox 360? Microsoft actually has a lot of experience building the hardware and software together. (Less than Apple, for sure, but definitely more than Google.) I primarily own Apple stuff, but my XBox 360 (before it burned itself up) was my favorite Microsoft product ever created.

The accounts on these devices are tied to your cloud accounts. No one wants multi-user in a family, because they don't want to buy two copies of every game and app that they share. If your device is in a family, monitoring their usage is important, anyway, so you don't need multiple accounts.

You are wrong. Only one account needs to purchase an app. It can then be downloaded and used by other accounts on the PC without repurchase.

Curious as to whether folding the touch cover underneath the kickstand would mitigate the lap issue. I see a picture of it being done at the bottom of page 3 on a hard surface. Would sealing off the gap between the kickstand and the main body with the touch cover make it more stable and/or comfortable on the lap or other uneven surfaces?

Curious as to whether folding the touch cover underneath the kickstand would mitigate the lap issue. I see a picture of it being done at the bottom of page 3 on a hard surface. Would sealing off the gap between the kickstand and the main body with the touch cover make it more stable and/or comfortable on the lap or other uneven surfaces?

Ooo, that's a decent idea. Except, you've just shot typing on said keyboard by using it as a mini-desktop stand, which would defeat the purpose (for me, at least).

Still fairly happy I pre-ordered it; can't wait for Friday. Well, at least I hope, since I haven't heard a peep about it shipping yet

Curious as to whether folding the touch cover underneath the kickstand would mitigate the lap issue. I see a picture of it being done at the bottom of page 3 on a hard surface. Would sealing off the gap between the kickstand and the main body with the touch cover make it more stable and/or comfortable on the lap or other uneven surfaces?

Ooo, that's a decent idea. Except, you've just shot typing on said keyboard by using it as a mini-desktop stand, which would defeat the purpose (for me, at least).

Still fairly happy I pre-ordered it; can't wait for Friday. Well, at least I hope, since I haven't heard a peep about it shipping yet

I know it ruins typing with the keyboard, but for car rides, are you really going to be using it much for that purpose? There's also the (much less desirable) bluetooth option for lap desks. I'm just wondering mainly for reading or watching things where there isn't a nice solid surface.

Because tablets, like smartphones, are very personal "personal computers". Multiuser is IMO the wrong paradigm. What I want is "lock into this app" mode instead, so I can open an app and then give it to someone else for a limited period of time to let them look at whatever it is I want to show them. General-purpose multiuser isn't appropriate--they should just buy their own device if they want their own account.

I disagree. Tablets are, in many ways, a more social computer to lend to kids, roommates, spouses, etc. for quick information hits around the house, better than a laptop or desktop for this. I do want them to borrow my iPad but I am not interested in having them see my email, Facebook, photo albums, and so on just because all those apps open straight into my personal data. In contrast, when I let someone borrow my laptop for 5 minutes, it's no problem and barely any effort to simply switch to the Guest account and let them go wild without them viewing or disturbing any of my files or accounts. I really, really miss this feature on the iPad.

Your solution has a problem in that it only locks one app. It does not scale. What if someone wants to check their email and then their flight in another app or in a web browser? Lock all apps except those three, meaning you have to ask your borrower precisely which apps they intend to use in advance, so you can spend 2 minutes first doing a little multi-app selection and lock-setting dance? Sounds completely unwieldy compared to a simple one-step switch into a walled-off guest account.

Surely you're not arguing for each kid, roommate, and houseguest to go out and buy their own tablet just so they can check social media and email for 10 minutes?

BTW I have a lot of respect for your very helpful review here and your appearances on TWiT.

I guess I'm probably coloured by the circles I move in.

I'm a DINK, so no children at home to worry about. Most of my friends and family are big on social networking and so on, so we all have smartphones of our own, so the idea of using someone else's gadget to check an e-mail, or post on Facebook, or whatever else, is pretty alien to me--the conversation instead is "Hey, what's your Wi-Fi password?".

As such, the only times that devices are shared around are things like "Hey, look at this funny .gif". Very specific, very short--look at something, then hand it back.

That said, I do really like OS X's model for guest users. It wouldn't hurt to have it on a device. I don't use multiple named accounts on anything, but I have used the OS X guest account, and in many ways it seems more useful than multiple named accounts.

I love the UI direction that MSFT is taking with WinRT. And I think this hardware is a very neat bit of kit, especially the keyboards. Specifically about the keyboards- MSFT outdid Apple here (and I'm speaking as an Apple fan). While the iPad doesn't need a keyboard as much as WinRT does, it's still damned clever to build one into MSFT's version of Apple's Smart Cover.

But I don't see the iPad as being Surface's biggest competitor. If I were comparing use cases, look-and-feel, and the kinds of things I'd want a Surface tablet for, I would be choosing between Surface and a Chromebook. Price differences aside, I see more in common between ChromeOS and WinRT than WinRTand iOS. Google's and MSFT's design languages are both trending towards the minimalistic, while Apple (unfortunately) seems headed towards the skeuomorphic. The built-in productivity apps in WinRT seem more closely aligned, in look-and-feel and functionality, with the Google Apps suite. Google provides some degree of enterprise manageability with Chrome OS; I think (correct me if wrong) that the future Pro version will provide the same from MSFT.

I'll say it because it needs to be said: Windows RT will be a short-lived (hopefully) failure. But this review sure is encouraging for the X86 version.

If Microsoft were to engage in aggressive branding, they should capture the fact that Microsoft is about business and productivity. Microsoft products may not be loved, but it's understood that the world gets things done with Windows, Word, Excel and Outlook. Microsoft needs to say: "Apple tablets are for browsing pinterest on your sofa. Microsoft tablets are for getting things done."

Microsoft needs to embrace this with the uncompromising vigor that Apple embraces it's aesthetics and ease of use as cores to it's brand. What that means is not being shy about selling quality expensive products if that's what's required to meet the brand goals. This tablet just doesn't meet that standard. You can run office but you can't run anything else. This tablet exists because Microsoft was afraid to sell an $800+ tablet only. They shouldn't have been. The X86 tablet is Microsoft's future in every way and they have to fully embrace that.

re: SDXC - I don't recall seeing it anywhere, what will be the max supported size for the card?

I'm not sure; I would think that it implements the full spec SDXC and hence can be used with anything up to 2 TB. It's only a microSDXC slot, though, and I don't know if any cards larger than 64 GB are even available. 64 GB is what I used.

Further to my previous post - here is an example that I think illustrates why a 'guest mode' might be useful:

About 6 months ago, our two year was playing with my wife's iPad and managed to stumble across the setting for moving apps to different home screens. When we turned it on a little while later, we had an ipad where the fixed dock now consisted of Bob the Builder, Thomas the Tank Engine, In The Night Garden and Toddler Counting! Useless apps, like Mail, Calendar and Safari, had been relegated to the fifth home screen. Obviously a small example, and easy to fix, but one that a properly implemented guest mode would have prevented.

"Bluetooth mice and keyboards appeared to work as expected, though as I lack any high-speed Bluetooth 4 devices my experience is limited."

Bluetooth 4.0 adds a new radio and protocol stack (that runs side by side with the standard one), "Bluetooth Low Energy" that is *not* faster, but rather *slower* (1 Mbps) than standard Bluetooth. However, it is extremely low power, allowing for mice and keyboards that can run on batteries for up to 1-2 years.

This is an exciting technology and Microsoft has invested a lot in it as well as Apple and others.

Ah, so it does, you are correct. I will make a correction to the post, but I lack both Bluetooth 3 high speed devices, and Bluetooth 4 low power devices, so my inability to assess it remains unfortunately the same.

The lack of the ability to join a domain is a legitimate gripe, but what is this complaint I keep seeing of not having Outlook in Office 2013 RT? You realize it's not necessary, right? You've got a Mail app that supports EAS just fine - what do you need Outlook for on a tablet?

But couldn't you have cleaned it a little with air or lint free cloth or taken the pics right out of the box? The thing is covered in detritus and it looks like you were eating Doritos while using the keyboard...

"Unfortunately, I used it before taking this photo and getting it clean proved difficult."

Really? With what, the sleeve of your shirt? It really takes away from the presentation of the hardware.

Uh, I cleaned it with a microfiber cloth. Although it cleaned the screen just fine, for whatever reason it could not remove fingerprints and smudges from the surface of the Type Cover.

I find it kind of amusing that the VivoTab ends up recommended over the Surface, since MS's justification for getting into the hardware game in the first place was that their OEMs just weren't showcasing Windows RT properly.

You brits and your fancy shmancy metric system. I'll stick with inchfs, thank you very much,

Calling the metric system "fancy-shmancy" in an article from ArsTechnica, a leading science and technology web magazine, written by one of the best Microsoft reporters out there is just plain arrogance and ignorance. Leave this holy place and make sure to keep a descent MILEAGE distance radius.

I find it kind of amusing that the VivoTab ends up recommended over the Surface, since MS's justification for getting into the hardware game in the first place was that their OEMs just weren't showcasing Windows RT properly.

Surface is a much nicer piece of design; its attention to detail and aesthetics and build quality are all superior to the VivoTab RT. So in a sense I can see Microsoft's point. It's just that the VivoTab RT is more functional, in some important ways. Since computers are ultimately items to be used, not items to be looked at, that tilts the balance in Asus' direction, I think.

lost all interest at "1366×768". will wait for a review of the pro version in a few months. i would venture to say this thing is more or less worthless to the general consumer, at its current price point/feature set.

Here's a question for IT purposes. Does Window RT's RDP application support RemoteApp? I have seen one or two articles elsewhere saying it does, but they don't appear to have first hand experience and they don't provide their sources.

If it does support RemoteApp, then that would be a huge boon to the business viability of these devices, considering our Win32 applications can't be sideloaded onto the device.

That said, I do really like OS X's model for guest users. It wouldn't hurt to have it on a device. I don't use multiple named accounts on anything, but I have used the OS X guest account, and in many ways it seems more useful than multiple named accounts.

Windows has had a guest account since NT4, no? Can it not be enabled on WinRT?

Lack of GPS is a bit troubling... and they tout this as a business machine without a WWAN option?

Microsoft is not really positioning Windows RT for business use--the system can't be domain joined for one, and the lack of Outlook in Office RT is a dead giveaway. But it may factor into BYOD scenarios, if it is successful with consumers.

Windows 8 tablets and hybrids will carry the flag for corporate deployments, if there are any.

The lack of the ability to join a domain is a legitimate gripe, but what is this complaint I keep seeing of not having Outlook in Office 2013 RT? You realize it's not necessary, right? You've got a Mail app that supports EAS just fine - what do you need Outlook for on a tablet?....

I think the very, very basic nature of the Mail app is part of the reason...on the other hand with the inclusion of Office marked a prime reason to get the tablet, folks expect Outlook whether its realistic or not (especially to operate basically like it does from work).

Great review Peter. Not having magnets to close the cover on the screen seems like a no brainer...looks like Gen 2 will be where the little nits like that can get fixed.

Surface Pro seems like the place to go for no compromises...however the prices are going to be much higher...tough market spot overall for Microsoft to be in, although they'll sell a ton of these just from folks that want a "windows" tablet.

I guess it is just me but MS missed the boat a bit I think. They should have used a Clover Trail setup instead of the relatively slow Tegra 3...heck even a Snapdragon S4 Pro would have been perfect. And the price. This device should not have been more than 400 dollars including the keyboard. I have been looking for a tablet replacement since my Touchpad got stolen, and was really looking forward to this. However, the things I mentioned above were enough to set my sights on something else. Let's see what the 10 inch Nexus will be like...or I might just skip having a tablet altogether. Nice try Microsoft, but yeah a bit late to the party.

This review pretty much met my expectations. I still think RT is a misbegotten attempt to bite at Apple/Google's ankles. And the fact that there is no true RT apps available(sorry you would think they would have taken out all the bells and whistles on a eval unit to the press) means that 3rd party devs have either been invited late to the party or have no real interest in re-inventing their own wheels. This is a serious flaw in the RT strategy; with Apple/Google's ecosystems in full swing M$ need to hit the ground running if it has any chance to make RT a real competitor to IOS or Android. It cannot afford to "wait for the 3rd party devs" to jump on the RT wagon, they should have been courted from the moment the project started; and there should be every major app available by launch. Without that no ones going to be interesting in running a hobbled version of Windows. They should have learned that lesson from their experience with Windows Mobile.

Windows 8 pro tablets is where I would place my money. The ability to run a full OS from a tablet interface with software legacy support means Devs can easily port their existing programs to Win8 touch UI, which will be the killer feature that might actually be; OMG I thought I would never actually be serious about claiming this; an iPad killer.

The only chance I see in RT surviving is if M$ just admits that the only group of users who will actually be compelled to support these devices are corporate users. They should go after the much easier target; RIM. Taking over their market share will be much easier than trying to take on Apple/Google's massive casual userbase.

Good review. I was curious how it would turn out. After reading the review for this and the Asus tablet, there will be a good long wait for a strong 3rd party backing for the RT. Developers are cranky enough over making and maintaining apps for two ecosystems, and it looks like there is no rush to add a third until it's better proven.

The lack of the ability to join a domain is a legitimate gripe, but what is this complaint I keep seeing of not having Outlook in Office 2013 RT? You realize it's not necessary, right? You've got a Mail app that supports EAS just fine - what do you need Outlook for on a tablet?

That's why Microsoft wants you to pay $300 more (or whatever it'll be) for the Pro version....that said, you're right, its called Windows and it should operate in the enterprise space at launch...JMHO...

"Sticking to the software and letting other people deal with the hardware side is what made Microsoft the multinational behemoth... Microsoft is diving headlong into a new business model... designing hardware to go with that software..."

Here's a question for IT purposes. Does Window RT's RDP application support RemoteApp? I have seen one or two articles elsewhere saying it does, but they don't appear to have first hand experience and they don't provide their sources.

All I can say is that the Metro RDP app supports remoteapps (not very cleanly, but it supports it). Since it's supposed to be the same code that runs on Win8 pro and Metro, it should work as well.

Here's a question for IT purposes. Does Window RT's RDP application support RemoteApp? I have seen one or two articles elsewhere saying it does, but they don't appear to have first hand experience and they don't provide their sources.

All I can say is that the Metro RDP app supports remoteapps (not very cleanly, but it supports it). Since it's supposed to be the same code that runs on Win8 pro and Metro, it should work as well.

Is there a non-Metro RDP application hidden on there? Maybe at %windir%\system32\mstsc.exe.And what do you mean by "not very cleanly?"